1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cellular cushioning material, in general and to inflatable cellular cushioning material having horizontal lines creating sleeves material for cushioning products and void filling, in particular.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Inflatable cellular cushioning materials are widely used for packaging, cushioning of various products, void filling as well as for other uses. Inflatable cellular cushioning materials contain inflated areas, which may be called “bubbles” or “air bubbles”, juxtaposed to each other. Hence, an ideal inflatable cellular cushioning material surrounding or wrapping an object can soften a blow from any source external to the object. Typical products that require cushioning are fragile products, such as glass and porcelain, and products that require special care while handling such as electronic apparatuses and the like. Thus, cushioning cellular materials prevent hitting and shocks that may occur to items during their handling in various circumstances such as transportation or elevation. Handling products while unprotected with inflated materials can seriously damage or incline defects to the functionality and esthetic appearance of the products. Naturally, different products with different characteristics regarding to their weight, size, sensitivity to mechanical shocks and the like require different types of inflatable cellular cushioning materials for their protection. Consequently, there are different inflatable cellular cushioning materials used and various types, sizes and shapes of air bubbles.
A key factor that affects the inflatable cellular cushioning materials quality and its production is the feeding material. The feeding material known in the art can have two or more layers and can be a plastic material. One type of feeding material is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/758,544 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,622 titled CELLULAR CUSHIONING MATERIAL AND METHOD FOR ITS PRODUCTION filed on Jan. 12, 2001 by Matarasso ('544). The plastic feeding material disclosed in '544 is a pre-welded plastic material comprised from at least two layers. The pre-welded plastic is welded to have a plurality of diagonally oriented, inflatable sleeves extending substantially the entire width of said sheet, and a longitudinally extending air entry passage. According to '544 each of the inflatable sleeves has an opening for allowing entry of air from said air entry passage into the sleeve. The user inflates the cellular cushioning material using an air injecting pipe located in the center of the sheet inflated, the pipe is inserted into the mid section of the plastic sheet using a knife for cutting a passageway in the middle or side section of the inflatable plastic sheet.
According to '544 each of the sleeves is welded from all sides except for a small opening located in the pipe entry line. Once air is injected into the diagonal sleeves a longitudinal welding is applied to the plastic sheet. The longitudinal welding is applied to the inflated plastic sheet at predetermined intervals. The welding is applied using horizontal bars having heating elements. Each time the bars are applied to the plastic sheet the manufacturing process slows down the production of the cellular cushioning material. Due to the opening between the pre-welded sections, entire areas juxtaposed to the inflated area are not sealed from all of their sides causing the significant reduction in the efficiency of the partially inflated plastic sheet.
A further disadvantage of the feeding pre-welded material shown in '544 refers to the production line size and performance. The configuration of the feeding material providing a plurality of diagonally oriented, inflatable sleeves requires the feeding and inflating area to be considerable larger than actually needed for small quantity of inflatable cellular cushioning material. Thus, all sleeves must be inflated with air prior to be welded in order to exploit and effectively use the feeding material.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 that shows a plastic sheet having a plurality of diagonally oriented, inflatable sleeves extending substantially the entire width of the shown sheet, known in the art. Once diagonal 100, 101, 102 are air filled, longitudinal weld 104 is made using horizontal welding bars, thus creating non-inflated area 108. Like non-inflated areas are located throughout the length of the air filling section of the plastic sheet. The longer the distance between longitudinal welds 104, 106 the larger the non-inflated sections created within the plastic sheet. The many non-inflated areas reduce the efficiency of the cellular cushioning material and provide a cellular cushioning material which is only partially inflated.
There is therefore a need for a new and novel material which would overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.